So, Wedge Antilles from this wave - do I really need him in my collection? I have the one from the X-Wing set. To me the only difference is the head sculpt and some minor paint apps differences on his chest thingy. Am I missing anything else?

I did some more research and it appears this new one has a different body than the X-Wing release. The new uses the same body as 2006's VTSC Luke Skywalker (X-Wing Pilot) with a new head sculpt. So he does have the hole for a light saber hilt

The old one is a kit-bash figure using the arms, legs, and crotch of Nrin Vakil, the gloves and helmet of 2006's VTSC Wes Janson, a new torso and head. The helmet is the same as similar X-Wing Pilots, but the plastic has been stretched to fit Wedge's head.

another difference I noticed is the thing around his lower leg that looks to me like a spare ammo holster is on opposite legs from one figure to another.

Shorter is more accurate. Dennis Lawson is not far off from Mark Hammil's height. I was sort of surprised by that, whenever it was pointed out when the figure was originally shown to use the Luke sculpt.

I was disappointed at the time, but then found out he really was a shorter dude so yeah, shorter is more accurate.

I'm at the point, with this hobby in general, where I don't know if I care. I want these figures, but Hasbro's making collecting impossible right now unless you want to pay premiums to simply stay current, and forget about extras at this point. That's rough when you think the line itself is overpriced to begin with at Wal-Mart and Target, so things suck a bit.

It makes figures you already have that are pretty good in the solid/basics (sculpt, aesthetics, articulation, features, etc.) much more tolerable when it comes to things like height inaccuracies, or the wrong saber hilt but something relatively similar, and so on.

In contrast, it makes buying a new figure a matter of much greater scrutiny... Eyes out of place you notice more. Paint straying from the hairline to the face, you notice.

To me, Evazan's thigh strap molded to his leg is pretty ****** on Hasbro's part. That should be a separate part of the holster, not part of the leg. Non-removable vests, non-removable headgear, lacking basic details and featuers like a working holster (*cough*or no holster where there should be one*cough*), bad paintjobs, and detail inaccuracies like height not being consistant with the rest of the line, are all now things that get put under a microscope by myself for sure and I think many others as well.

It's the $5 Sandtrooper argument, to me. For $10, he's meh. You might buy one or two but you don't care about him because all flaws are noticeable. For $5, you're happy to nab one every week even if his helmet is green, his belt's ugly, or whatever the $10 price point did to make you "care more" about the little stuff.

I was looking forward Dr. Evazan but since I totally missed Walrus Man, what's the point...

I am really at the end of this...after collecting from 1977-1985 and from 1995 to the present...I just think I'm done...very, very down on this whole thing.

Totally agreed, speedermike. My disgust with Hasbro and what Star Wars has become was gradual. First, when I saw for myself that all three prequels were a joke, I unloaded every last item related to them and stuck with OT only. Then, the price increases and lack of distribution got even worse. So, I scaled back yet again, and unloaded more. Now, my modern collection only consists of Boba Fett and Darth Vader items, and a few choice items that "wowed" me, like the Millennium Falcon, AT-AT, and figures that were finally gotten as right as they could be. Even with everything so scaled back and not having a "gotta have it all" attitude, the lack of Hasbro product and price increases only say one loud and clear thing: Hasbro just doesn't care, and they haven't for years. I would really like a Walrus Man, Slave Leia, Sandstorm Leia, and VC93 Vader. But, I'm not holding my breath. It truly is sad.

I was looking forward Dr. Evazan but since I totally missed Walrus Man, what's the point...

I am really at the end of this...after collecting from 1977-1985 and from 1995 to the present...I just think I'm done...very, very down on this whole thing.

I hear you and couldn't agree more. There's got to be a better way to connect customers with the product they want without retail acting as wholesale for a second retail stage.

In fact, I must confess that I bought my first ever new figure from an e-bay seller. The A-wing pilot. Couldn't find him, was tired of spending valuable time looking for him. 17 years, not once did I have to go to e-bay for a figure. I so didn't want to do it, but if I got a nice minty one, then great, I can sit on my laurels until the next wave. Sadly, the seller was an idiot and threw the nice mint, unpunched figure in a flimsy box with half a sheet of paper as packing and two pieces of tape to hold the box together. Really shoddy work. The post office crushed the box and the seller only offered to take it back because e-bay told him he was at fault. Which he was. Not once did the guy apologize. He's the exact reason why I didn't want to go to e-bay and I never will again.

Please excuse me if this is being discussed in another part of the forum. I'm curious on how do we as collectors/consumers take a stand. How are the waves distributed to stores, such as TRU,TARGET and even hasbrotoyshop.com. Does anyone on this board know? When orders are placed, do these establishments get random stock or is there a choice? I'm on the verge of quitting also. I know it's awful in other countries and its also good to know that this endless frustration is not takin g place only in NYC. What are we to do? Do we take to FB and other social media's and complain and bad mouth hasbro? I'm ready to take action to get my voice heard or is it just not that serious? Has anyone from this website or other sites talked to someone from Hasbro about our concerns? There is a major TRU in times square in NYC and there is absolutely nothing in there as far as new product. Same old TPM peg earners from January. Anyone have some sane advice or suggestions?

I'm with Speedermike...I've been collecting Star Wars figures for the better part of three decades, I just don't have the enthusiasm to go out and try to find the items I want anymore. I stopped being a completist a long time ago, and now I just don't care much at all.

Logged

Peacekeeper, when it absolutely, positively has to be nuked in 30 minutes or less. Or the next nuke's free!

I've recently been dumping everything on eBay. 600+ figures, vehicles, comic packs, even the big Falcon and AT-AT. I'm keeping the Vintage stuff for now, but who knows what I'll say to that in six months.

I believe the biggest thing to blame is Hasbro's out-of-touch executive mentality that the majority of product is made to support current media. There is not enough interest from kids in owning every obscure Clone Wars character, nor the 3D prequel figure treatments. I don't understand how they cannot see the absolute glut of Episode 1 on the shelves, while every OT wave with lower numbers sells out. Try to find the deleted scene wave in quantity, and compare it to the Ep1 wave. Not only do they sell faster, but they are produced in far too few numbers compared to the media-supported stuff. People just don't get excited to own merchandise that's currently on TV or in theaters, compared to the power of nostalgia.

I believe the biggest thing to blame is Hasbro's out-of-touch executive mentality that the majority of product is made to support current media. There is not enough interest from kids in owning every obscure Clone Wars character

Which obscure Clone Wars characters are we talking about? If there's one thing I'm not seeing, it's secondary or tertiary Clone Wars figures hanging around on pegs. Those actually seem to be selling just fine. If anything, I'd say there's pent-up demand for a lot of them and Hasbro would probably be able to coast for a year by reproducing a few of the tougher ones from 2010-on.

Seems as though figures are either too rare or overproduced. Hasbro really needs to get a better handle on case assortments and smarter carry forwards. That right there could help the distribution woes a lot.

Which obscure Clone Wars characters are we talking about? If there's one thing I'm not seeing, it's secondary or tertiary Clone Wars figures hanging around on pegs. Those actually seem to be selling just fine. If anything, I'd say there's pent-up demand for a lot of them and Hasbro would probably be able to coast for a year by reproducing a few of the tougher ones from 2010-on.

Since CW is kind of in the toilet as a line in general I won't really mention anything current, but I could point out Embo, Aurra Sing, Yularren... I see what DB was saying. At the same time others haven't hung around, but was that because they were doing so well or that there weren't many of them making it to retail? I know there was desire for Jar Jar to make a comeback, Palpatine too.

That seems like a little of A and a little of B mixed together. I saw lots of the supposedly popular secondary guys like Embo though. He was tough to find for about a month here, but then he was everywhere till clearances moved him.